Ansatsuken
by Shin Willow
Summary: Halloween. Costume changes. And Xander and Willow go with a theme.
1. Anasatsuken 1

Title: Ansatsuken

Author: Shin Willow.

Spoilers: Halloween

Category: Drama/Challange

Rating: PG

Summery: Halloween. Costume changes. And Xander and Willow go with a theme.

* * *

Ansatsuken

* * *

Xander Harris walked down the sidewalk on Buffy's street carrying a big green box. He almost wanted to run to Buffy's house just so he could see Willow's face once he showed her the costumes he got for them that much sooner. They were cheap too, the costumes. All right, actually they wiped out his meager savings of fifty bucks, fifty bucks he planned to use towards a nice clunker of a used car. But when the shop owner suggested the second costume, Xander couldn't resist purchasing it for Willow. He wasn't sure she remembered her suggestion to wear matching outfits one Halloween three Halloweens ago, but Xander planned to remind her with green box number one.

The only problem was Willow and Buffy picked the outfits they'd wear tonight the day before. Xander guessed Willow must really be into the costume she picked out because she and Buffy acted all secretive about it. Buffy wasn't interested in being secretive, though. She was giddy and telling anyone who'd listen she was going as a noble woman. Of course, she was doing it to impress that freak, Angel, which really cheesed Xander off. What kind of dork wanted a hot chick like Buffy to dress like that anyway?

When there are so many low-cut blouses and mini skirts out there? And Spandex? Xander shook his head—he just didn't understand it.

As Xander continued to walk, he noticed people emerging from homes. Mostly kids already in costume followed by chasing parents. It was three p.m. and the sun was still high in the sky. Xander remembered what it was like to feel the need to get a head start on the candy hoarding.

_Which reminds me, I better hurry if I wanna get back to the school on time and pick up the kids Snyder saddled me with_. Not that Xander hated the idea of taking the kids trick or treating. It gave him a legitimate excuse to play dress-up and weasel free candy at his advanced age, after all. Xander picked up the pace.

Xander jogged up the steps of The Summers landing and up to the front door and knocked. A minute passed before the door opened. Xander stepped inside without being invited.

"Wow, Xander! Great costume!" Buffy exclaimed. "But I thought you were going as soldier guy?"

"Forget about me! Lady Buffy… Duchess of Buffonia! You look beautiful! I think I've been officially converted from a Spandex man," Xander declared. The dark pink dress looked very Cinderella-esque. Even the obvious looking brunette wig Buffy wore flattered her. Really brought out the green in her eyes.

Buffy bowed graciously. "Thank you kind sir," she said and Xander bowed in return. "Wait 'til you see Willow's outfit, she's…" they heard foot falls coming from the top of the stairs, they turned and saw Willow come down covered by a white sheet with two big eye-holes in it, a string sewn around where her neck was.

"Casper," Buffy finished softly.

Xander just nodded. _Looks like I got here just in time_, he thought. He met Willow at the base of the stairs and said, "Great costume… now strip."

"Xander!" Willow and Buffy exclaimed. Willow's voice was absolutely squeaky.

Xander held up the box and presented it to Willow. "Be-_cause_ I have something better for you to wear. Here, go try it on."

The green eyes behind the holes in the sheet flicked down to the box. "You bought me a costume?"

"Yeppers! Go on, open it and see what it is."

Willow looked at Xander and he smiled encouragingly, but his grin dissolved when he saw her staring at him like he gave her flowers or puppies… or something. He ducked his head and shuffled his feet. Thank god for Buffy because she spoke up. "Buying two costumes must've wiped you out, huh?" she asked.

"Yesiree!" Xander announced robustly, snapping his head up to look at Buffy. He could've kissed her feet at that moment for giving him a way out of that awkward moment. "But when inspiration and opportunity come a-knockin' you gotta grab that bull by the horns and take a leap of faith."

"Wow, can you cram that sentence with _one_ more platitude?" Buffy asked dryly.

"If it cost too much maybe you should take it back," Willow said.

Xander waved away the suggestion. "Nah. If you'd _finally_ look inside the box you'll figure out why I can't. We made a pact, remember?"

Willow's eyes went from being dewy and morose to curious, and then Xander knew he'd firmly distracted her from getting emotional. "A pact? When?"

Xander sighed dramatically. He said, "We agreed to wear something matching one of these Halloweens, if not in truth then in theme."

Willow lit up. It was clearly visible in her eyes when she pulled up the memory, even with shroud over her face. She looked down at the box again then exclaimed, "Oh, right! You, me, and--" Willow looked at Xander ready to finish her thought when Xander quickly cut her off.

"I know you suggested the Musketeers, but this was the closest I could manage. So go on and open it already!"

Willow took a breath as if to say something more, but she paused and sighed instead. Shifting the sheet so her arms were uncovered, Willow opened the box. Buffy up until that moment watched the two friends talk in that you had to be there manner they had, but she strode over to Willow once the box was opened, her own curiosity piqued to find out what it contained.

"God!" Buffy cried and faced Xander with an expression of amazement. "Xander, that's real silk!" She turned back to the box then to Xander again. "And those boots… that's real suede!"

Confused by Buffy's shocked outburst, Xander looked at Willow to explain what was up with that. She sometimes translated Buffy-speak in these instances. And right now Buffy sounded like she did when she laid her hands on what was supposed to be special shoes she found on sale. Special shoes that looked like any other pair in the store as far as Xander could tell, but she swore up and down were perfect and one of a kind and totally in style. And she thought Xander was an idiot for not knowing the difference.

But Willow was staring at the costume with nearly as much wide-eyed delight as Buffy.

"Okay, once again Xander's in the dark. What's the big deal about the outfit being silk and the boots leather?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and cocked her head disapprovingly. "First of all, not leather, suede. Secondly, do you have any idea how much a silk outfit costs?"

"Thirty bucks?" Xander offered.

"Nuh-uh. We're talkin' a couple of hundred dollars. At least!" Buffy asserted.

Xander shrugged and said, "The guy gave me a good deal."

Buffy reached into the box and stroked the costume with her fingers. "He gave me one on my dress, too. I guess he wasn't too interested in making profits."

"So, you gonna wear it, Will?" Xander asked.

"Yes. I mean if you want me to."

"I want."

* * *

"You're really going to walk around Sunnydale barefoot?" Buffy asked Xander, who sat on the bottom step of the stairs. She watched him unlace his shoes with a couple of quick tugs.

"This guy don't walk the globe in hi-tops, Buffy," Xander said shucking his sneaks. He set both at the foot of the stairs. Hoping Buffy was right about her mom not minding his storing them there.

"Do the words broken glass and tetanus hold any meaning to you?"

Xander gave a careless shrug then peeled off his white gym socks, depositing one in each shoe. "Yeah… but I figure as long as I stick to sidewalks and suburbia, I should be fine."

"If you… say… so…"

Xander looked at Buffy when her words trailed off. He saw her gaze was pulled up to a point behind him, so he stood and turned to see what snatched her attention. Willow stood at the top of the stairs wearing the costume Xander got for her to wonderful effect.

The blue, gold-trimmed garment fit better than he thought it would. The top part fit a little loosely, especially around the bosom area, but the waist area conformed perfectly. The skirt, split in three places, showed off her long, lithe legs, and the white, lace-up boots on her feet accentuated the healthy shape of her calves. Willow also wore orange-ish stockings. Xander hadn't noticed them when that Ethan guy showed him the costume. He hadn't noticed the spiked wrist bands either.

"Whoa, Willow!" Xander exclaimed appreciatively.

"I gotta say it… it's perfect. Willow, you look gorgeous! Only thing missing are the bun ties," Buffy said.

Blushing furiously, Willow clasped her hands in front of her. "There are some, but I couldn't get my hair up to fit them," she said softly.

"Yeah, well you look better with your hair down anyway," Xander said, studying her closely.

"Are you saying she looks pretty, Xan?" Buffy asked smiling broadly. Her question made Willow's blush deepen.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess so. But more importantly she's the perfect Chun-Li to my Ryu. But she looks way more impressive in her get up than I do in mine," Xander said. "I think it's the spikes…"


	2. Anasatsuken 2

Anasatsuken 2

* * *

Xander led his group across Channing Street so they could solicit more candy from another row of houses. Xander was, without a doubt, having a great time. First, he was getting a lot of compliments on his costume, and naturally he'd basked. Secondly, a couple of alluring ladies told him he had the arms to pull of the whole cut-off sleeves thing. Woo! 

Only thing that put a damper on the night's festivities was the way Willow acted at Buffy's. Xander couldn't remember the last time she looked at him like _that_. _The night Buffy came back from summer vacation, remember_? An annoyingly matter-of-fact voice in Xander's head reminded him. _Quiet you_! Xander snarled at it and decidedly shoved the image of Willow's doe eyes out of his head. _Buffy_… yeah, he'll think about Buffy and her strange attachment to a certain pointy-toothed dead guy.

Xander couldn't not notice how Buffy kept a skittish lookout for Angel whenever her group of kids and his crossed paths. She was eager to have Angel see her in her fancy dress. _She'd never dress uncomfortably to impress me_, Xander thought sullenly.

_Of course she can wear jogging pants and a T-shirt and still dazzle me—provided they're tight enough._

A scream jolted Xander out of his reverie. Looking around he noticed most of his kids took off in all directions, growling and chasing people like the little monsters they dressed as. Off in the distance he heard the rapid, explosive spit of machine gun fire and more screams.

"What the…" Xander started to say before he was overcome by a weird sensation like falling and floating at the same time. He blacked out only to regain consciousness a moment later and discover he was no longer in control of his body, someone else was…

* * *

She tried to find something, anything remotely familiar to her, yet her surroundings remained a mystery—a nightmarish one at that. Feral monsters lurked everywhere, attacking innocents with no provocation. Chun-Li waded into the thick of these attacks six times so far to save those she could. With nothing but her skills as a fighter, she dealt with the beasts quickly and efficiently, despite the obvious demonic power many of the creatures possessed. It was a good thing none of them had any skill in the martial arts. The last thing she needed to deal with was another Akuma. 

Chun-Li patrolled the neighborhood where the activity seemed most dense, and though she still heard cries and howls off in the distance, she saw no trouble nearby. That is until a girl dressed in a leopard-print leotard came running across a lawn toward the street and Chun-Li. The girl was screeching and a huge hairy thing chased her. Chun-Li quickly bound into action.

The girl caught sight of her and cried out for someone named Willow to help. Chun-Li disregarded her plea, and when she came within a few feet of the girl Chun-Li leapt over her head to deliver a dozen lightening kicks to the shaggy beast's face and chest. Before she touched the ground, it dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. The beast climbed to its feet, bellowing an outraged roar at Chun-Li before it charged at her. The girl screamed for Willow again.

Chun-Li held her ground until the last second before kicking her left foot straight up over her head, her sole striking the beast under it's chin. The blow snapped the creature's head back then she followed the kick with a quick jab to its stomach, followed by another and another until she launched into a combination of elbow strikes as well as punches.

When she was satisfied she inflicted enough damage, Chun-Li stepped back from the creature and let it fall to the ground, unmoving and moaning. She'd held back from killing the beast, as she had the many other beasts she encountered, though she didn't know why she showed mercy. Something restrained her, an inner sense Chun-Li learned to listen to over the years. She just hoped whatever instinct stayed her fiercest attacks was the right instinct to follow.

The rescued girl stepped up beside Chun-Li and stared down at the felled beast. "Willow! You beat the crap out of him!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

Chun-Li looked at the girl—who happened to be dressed as a cat and was some inches taller than her—and wanted to ask who this Willow person she kept going on about was, but it wasn't important enough to delay her patrol. Instead, she said, "You need to find a safe place, Miss. As you can see tonight is no time to be wandering." With those last words of warning to the girl, Chun-Li started on her way again.

"Okay, what's up with the accent? And are you brain-damaged, I'm not walking anywhere by myself! Did you see Jo-Jo, the dog-faced boy over there? Willow, are you listening to me?" the girl asked, hurrying after Chun-Li.

Chun-Li stopped walking and had to catch herself from stumbling when the girl collided into her back. She whirled around to face the cat-girl. "Why are you calling me 'Willow'?" she asked irritably.

"It's your name, duh!"

Chun-Li narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the young woman. Then she realized the cat-girl must have been injured; she possibly received a blow to the head after the trouble started. _Maybe I should bring her along to make sure she doesn't get hurt_, Chun-Li decided.

Then, nodding in a very conciliatory manner, Chun-Li smiled at the girl. "You come with me, don't panic. Everything will be all right. But I must warn you I'll be searching for any dangers threatening this place so please try not to put yourself in jeopardy," she said.

The cat-girl pursed her lips then fixed an equally patronizing expression on her face and nodded. "O-K, I will." They began walking again, the cat-girl sauntering beside Chun-Li. "Since when did you become Slayer Gal, anyway?"

Chun-Li didn't even want to know what the befuddled girl was talking about now. "Since we're friends--"

"Uh, ex-squeeze me, friends? Step away from the punch bowl, Willow!"

Chun-Li rolled her eyes and wondered why karma decided to saddle her with this annoying teenager. "Fine, since we're not on a shoot each other at first sight basis, what's your name? I don't want to call you cat-girl all night long."

"You know my name."

"Pretend I don't."

The girl sighed. "Fine, the name's Cordelia."

"How… Shakespearean." _And beautiful_, Chun-Li admitted.

"Huh?"

"King Lear. It was a play written in 1605, by William Shakespeare."

Cordelia snorted. "God, even as an amnesiac you're geek girl. Nice costume by the way."

* * *

It was blind fear that led her to this quaint cottage during her escape from the demons and uncouth peasants loitering about town. She fled from shadow to shadow in search of aid from a gentleman—hopefully one armed and so inclined to use his weapon in her defense. But as time passed her hopes grew wane. 

She believed she was well and truly lost by the time she heard the unmistakable sound of fisticuffs ahead of her. She almost turned ran in the opposite direction before it occurred to her there might be someone there who could help her. She decided to follow the ruckus. Instead of finding a regiment of the King's men combating demons, she found just one man surrounded by all manner of beasties; his fists and feet a whirlwind of motion as he felled each creature with grace and power.

Her heart was racing and her breath caught by the time the last creature was laid out. It was then she knew she'd found her protector in this strange land.

"Sirrah! I say, kind sir!" she cried out when she saw him about to disappear into the night. Grabbing two handfuls of her billowing skirt, she ran to him. Her previously bound dark hair came apart and her locks flowed freely due to her efforts. She felt relief when he stopped and turned to her, his clean-shaven face showing no distaste at her disheveled appearance.

"Oh, thank goodness I have found you! You must protect me from this… untamed place! And these…" she pointed at the creatures sprawled at their feet, "… things!"

The dark-haired man studied her, from the top of her head down to her unseen toes, and yet somehow she knew he was being nothing close to lecherous. However, she still felt the need to hold her head high as he judged her. "I will help you. Follow me," the man said finally, his voice was deep and reposed.

"Can we not retreat to your abode?" she asked, sweeping her arm at the cottage.

Without halting his steps the man said, "I don't live there."

She reined in her skirt again and jogged after her new protector. "I do hope our destination will provide safe shelter?" she asked.

"We'll see what we can find for you."

Falling in step with the mysterious man, she took his hand in hers. "Thank you, Sirrah… If I may be so bold, what is your name?"

"Ryu."

Ryu was not a name she recognized. It certainly was not a proper Englishman's name. It sounded Asian to her unworldly ears, but clearly Ryu was not Oriental, though now that she really listened to his voice he did have a slight accent.

She never felt safer while being pulled along by Ryu through the night. The strength she sensed in just his hand thrummed through her entire body. If Ryu hadn't been a brute of low stature, and possibly of foreign blood, she could almost desire a courtship between them.

They eventually left the area settled by the odd looking cottages, to a place where taller brick buildings stood. A place where the streets were cracked, filthy, and revealed as such by torches hanging from towering metal poles. But there were more places to hide and more ways to evade the creatures longing to feast upon their flesh.

Ryu came to a stop and hushed her before she could question him by firmly squeezing her hand. Belatedly her ears picked up voices ahead of them. They crept forward until they found their origin.

She and Ryu stumbled upon five men dressed in black harassing a group of youths in a dimly lit area paved with the same strange black stone the roads were made of, enclosed by three tall brick structures. The youths huddled against a huge machine with wheels, cowering as the hooligans closed in on them. Ryu pulled her behind a similar but smaller contraption like the one the youths pressed against, and started to let go of her hand. She tightened her hold on Ryu's hand and yanked on his arm once she realized his intentions to abandon her. "Please, you must not get involved!" she hissed.

"Right, kiddies, I'm only gonna ask once," one of the men said. "Have any of you seen an annoying little blonde bint named Buffy Summers? 'Bout yay high? The first one to answer me gets to go home, the rest end up heaps in the morgue."

"Don't move," Ryu commanded, prying his hand from hers, and then he darted out from behind the machine.

"No! You will be killed!" _Then who will protect me?_ Though she did feel pity for the youths, and wished them saved, her safety must come first.

Her station demanded it!

Her cry alerted the black-garbed men and they turned away from their current prey and saw Ryu dashing at them. She let out a startled yelp when she saw their faces. Hideously deformed countenances that were bumpy and wrinkled in places no human being should have bumps and wrinkles. And their eyes glowed with a ghastly yellow hue. But what truly terrified her were the long, sharpened teeth protruding from their mouths.

"Vampyrs!" she gasped.

"What the hell!" one of the Vampyrs shouted. He was the strangest looking beast; even among those he allied with. His hair was purest white and slicked back on his head. He wore a long, badly beaten leather coat of a design she did not recognize. The white-haired creature looked bewildered by Ryu's bumsrush at first, but his confusion soon turned to amusement and he smiled with deformed and sharpened teeth.

"Maybe you can tell me where the Slayer is, 'ey mate?" he asked.


	3. Anasatsuken 3

Anasatsuken 3

* * *

"I'm telling you we need to find my friend Giles!" Cordelia cried. "He'll know what's going on and what to do!" 

"Is he like your friend Willow?" Chun-Li asked trying very hard to keep her composure.

"You _are_ Willow!"

"Look, young lady," Chun-Li said, "I don't have time to meet with your imaginary friends. There are real people in danger that need my help."

"Hey, lady, I'm not the one being delusional. That's you… '_Chun-Li_'."

"I didn't tell you my name so you can spit it out with such disdain, Ms. Chase!" Chun-Li snapped.

The two stopped on the shoulder of the street to glare at each other. Cordelia's pestering over the last half-hour to see this Rupert Giles and her nasty attitude was getting on her nerves. Even Cammy wasn't as bad as this girl!

Cordelia's inhaled sharply, but then to Chun-Li's surprise the young woman swallowed her retort.

"Okay, fine," Cordelia said. "You're all protect and serve, I get that, but believe me when I say if we talk to Rupert Giles, a real person, he might be able to make all this craziness go away for good. We can save everybody all at once."

Chun-Li let her own anger recede and mulled over what Cordelia said. She guessed if Cordelia, an opinionated and bossy person by all accounts, could put aside her pride to try and make a point then Chun-Li should give that point consideration. "How can one man stop so many monsters from terrorizing the city?" she asked.

Cordelia raised her arms out to her sides and said, "Well, look around! I know Sunnydale isn't Mayberry on a good night, but this kind of stuff doesn't happen unless some really screwed magic is involved!"

"Magic?"

"I'm not crazy," Cordelia declared warningly.

"Oh, I know certain supernatural forces exist," Chun-Li assured the young woman. "Okay, so how will Mr. Giles reverse the magic?"

Cordelia shrugged. "His whole deal is about stopping this kind of stuff."

Chun-Li thought on the other woman's words, while Cordelia impatiently tapped the toe of her right heel against the asphalt. "Okay," Chun-Li finally said, "we will see your friend. Perhaps it is wiser to find a way to stop the trouble at its source than by piecemeal."

"Finally!" Cordelia smiled smugly and said, "Now, _you_ can follow _me_. If I know Giles, he's probably lurking around the school library right now. The man has no life."

"Didn't you say his life was dedicated to fighting evil?"

"That's his job, but he spends every waking moment he's not fighting the forces of darkness, " Cordelia rolled her eyes, "fondling books. I don't know how anyone can consider that a life."

Ten minutes later, the two women reached Sunnydale High School. They hadn't encountered any more magical costumed freaks, as Cordelia put it, on their way there. Cordelia led them around the main building to the rear entrance of the library. The teenager tried the door and discovered it barred.

"Stand back," Chun-Li said and kicked the metal door in with a powerful high kick.

Cordelia wasn't impressed.

"What is it with you Little-Miss-likes-to-fights-a-lots? Huh? I mean we coulda' just knocked!"

"Time is important now," Chun-Li mumbled weakly in her own defense, careful not to look the teenager in the eye.

Cordelia favored her with a crooked smirk. "Yeah, right."

It was then that an outraged older man wearing wire rimmed glasses and a gray three-piece suit appeared in the doorway. "What on Earth is going on here!" he exclaimed staring at the crumpled metal door hanging on its bottom hinge.

* * *

"I'm sorry, let me see if I understand this," Rupert Giles asked the two girls standing in front of him. One dressed in a terribly indecent Spandex body suit, and the other dressed in a fine blue Asian garment and white boots. "This isn't Willow Rosenberg, but an agent of Interpol?" 

Willow crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. For a brief moment Giles felt he should apologize for being rude. That look of disapproval on Willow's face reminded him of his mum after he'd mucked up some thing or another. Then he remembered the girls were putting him on and intensified his skeptical demeanor.

"That's what I'm telling ya, everyone has become their costumes," Cordelia said rubbing her temples with her fingers. "Willow _thinks_ she's Chun-Li."

"Be that as it may, it should be quite obvious to even her she is _not_ an Asian woman," Giles said dryly. Then before either girl could respond, Giles looked Willow in the eye and said in considerably flawed Chinese, "Wo bu hui jiang zhong wen, uh, chu ci jian mian qing duo guan zhao. Ni shi cong na li lai de?"

Willow gave him a Mona Lisa smile and said, "I've heard worse, Mr. Giles. And I hope I will be able to say the same of you one day."

Giles snatched his glasses from his face. "My word! You understood me!" he exclaimed.

"It took some doing," Willow said, her smile blossoming into a teasing grin.

"Okay, now that we're all on the same wave length, can we get with the world saving?" Cordelia asked, bored with the whole show and tell.

Giles replaced his glasses and cleared his throat. "Y-Yes, right. Start from the beginning… Wait… where is Buffy?"

"I haven't seen her since school let out, but I'm guessing she's probably not doing so good out there. Unlike Willow, she didn't wear a Street Fighter costume."

"Street Fighter?" Willow muttered.

"What did she dress as?" Giles asked, terror gripping his heart at the possibility his Slayer was out there completely helpless.

"Oh, it was a really nice dress! We're talking Glenn Close in _Dangerous Liaisons_, nice." Cordelia shook her head sadly. "Figures the one time Buffy shows taste--"

"Cordelia! Quickly, everything you know!"

"There's not much more to tell."

"I'd say there is, like how is it you haven't transformed into your costume?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Willow said.

"Maybe the spell couldn't turn me into a real cat," Cordelia suggested.

Willow (or should he call her Chun-Li?) shook her head. "The magic being used can change a human being into an animal form from what I've seen. Or at least something closely resembling to the costume's design."

Cordelia looked at the other girl with surprise. "So you believe you're Willow now?"

"I do not," Willow said, though she didn't sound so certain.

Giles began pacing in front of the girls, and said, "Maybe it's the costumes themselves that are hexed. Where did you buy your, ah, outfit, Cordelia?"

"Party Barn."

Giles turned to Willow. "And you and Buffy?"

Willow pressed her lips together tightly and exhaled noisily through her nose, the look she'd given Giles earlier had nothing on the look of tried patience she possessed now.

"Er, right. Cordelia do you know where they bought them?"

"Right, like I have clue one about Sunnydale's retail hell!"

"Cordelia."

"Okay, okay, I saw your little freak squad at a new place. It was called Ethan's.

_Ethan… he wouldn't dare. Not in the Slayer's backyard. Not in mine_.

"Mr. Giles? Is something wrong?" Willow asked.

A grim set on his face, Giles shook his head. "Of course not. Cordelia, take me to Ethan's."

* * *

_What the bloody hell is he doing_? Spike wanted to know. The Slayer's groupie was tearing into his forces like the Slayer herself. The power behind his hits and their speed amazed Spike. _It's that karate getup he has on_, Spike thought. It changed him into some kind of martial artist. A master of his discipline it seemed, but Spike couldn't place what form the boy was using. And he'd been around a long time and seen just about every fighting style in existence. Prudently, Spike backed away from the melee and watched. He'd need to study the kid's moves a bit. 

So far, as far as Spike could tell, the only mistake the boy made was not carrying something to dust the vampires with after he smacked them around. Then Spike remembered the boy was a goody two shoes, which meant he wouldn't kill some poor, unlucky brat who decided to wear the wrong costume tonight. Even without a stake, the kid was still doing a competent job of hurting his enemies, despite being outnumbered and out-powered.

Another thing Spike noticed was the lack of fear the kid showed. He didn't even smell afraid. Spike smelled adrenaline and sweat, and something else… something Spike could only call excitement.

The boy blocked two punches from two of the vampires, pushed their arms away with his forearms then crouched low and delivered two blows of his own, shoving his fists into the vampires' stomachs. Then he swept their legs out from under them and quickly moved on to the other two vamps before the first two hit the ground. He bowed his back to evade a spinning back kick from one, rose up and clocked the other who jumped at him. Next, he blocked the first vamp's follow up kick with the elbow of the same arm he used to punch the second. With a quick motion the kid caught the vamp's leg below the kneecap, stepped forward and kneed him in the groin.

Needless to say the vamp went down clutching his danglies. By then, the boy re-engaged the first two vampires' whose legs he swept. They had come up from behind, their claws raised but the kid stepped back and elbowed both in the chest. Spike clearly heard their ribs snapping. Then the boy back-flipped over them, his hands gripping their shoulders as he arched over them. He bent his knees as he came down and drove them into the vampires' backs, their spines cracking under the force of the strikes. The kid let them drop bonelessly to the asphalt—they wouldn't be getting up for awhile.

That last move from the boy gave the other two vamps pause and they looked to Spike for orders… or so he thought. Spike cursed; he realized it wasn't a course of action they wanted, but his help.

Spike was tempted to make the blighters fend for themselves, but how would that look? He killed two Slayers for cryin' out loud! Now he's gonna run from a scrawny little rent boy like the Slayer's lap dog? Hell, no! Spike swaggered forward, the vamps backed off and the boy faced him.

"You been working out, mate?" Spike asked, smiling cockily, stopping a few feet from the boy. Noting his white Karate costume was damp with sweat, but not nearly as much sweat as Spike would have liked to see. The kid wasn't even breathing very hard for someone who'd fought off four vampires. It didn't matter only two of them were real; they were as strong and as durable as the real thing.

The loose strings of boy's red headband and the fabric of his getup waved in an unexpected wind, but he remained absolutely still. His facial features, his arms, legs, hands and bare feet seemed to be in stasis. Even his eyes showed a quiescent focus—focus on Spike, and Spike alone.

It was unnerving. By now it was obvious to Spike he'd been wrong-headed to think of the Slayer's friend as the same boy he'd met during his reunion with his sire. Of course the boy probably wasn't a boy at all at the moment. He was exactly what that blooming gi made him. Which was one great ass-kicker looking to kick ass—someone that loved doing it by the smell of 'em.

_I knew it was a bad idea to go running about town tonight. Should be relaxing back at the warehouse and sharing a warm virgin with Dru. Bugger_.

"So, I was wondering," Spike started, "since those kids you came to save took off, let's say me and my mates go our way and you go yours, 'ey?"

The boy, or whoever he was, placed one foot in front of the other then twisted on the balls of his feet so his right shoulder faced forward. Next he let his back leg slide back a little more and bent his legs. Then, finally, he brought his arms up so his fists hovered under his chin briefly before he extended his right arm out in front of him.

"I see," Spike said. _I go looking for a helpless, sniveling Slayer and find Bruce-bloody-Lee instead_.

They faced off for nearly five minutes, neither one attacking. The minions who deferred to Spike were long gone. And the vamps the kid gimped were slowly regaining use of their bodies.

Spike impatiently bounced around like a boxer in a ring, while the boy exuded a frightening amount of tranquility, standing completely still. Spike couldn't take the waiting and attacked first. Going in hard, swinging punches as fast as he could to shake off the near catatonia he slipped into waiting for the boy to do something. The kid blocked with his arms, his muscles tensed hard to absorb the impact of Spike's fist. He countered with a roundhouse, which Spike bobbed under. The boy relentlessly followed up by throwing an uppercut at Spike's face and Spike dodged that, too. The boy was fast, but Spike was confident it was nothing he couldn't handle. Just had to wear him down.

He saw an opening in the boy's defenses and delivered a fast jab to the boy's side, causing him to grunt and pivot away to keep out of Spike's reach. The boy clutched his side with his right arm while holding out his left, his eyes ablaze with pain and anger. Spike was glaring himself, he'd been positive that blow would've crippled the kid. Cracked some ribs at least. Spike charged in and sent a front lunge kick at the boy who spun out of the way, brought up his left elbow and battered it against Spike's shoulder blade. Spike gritted his teeth and backhanded the boy's face. The boy went flying and landed hard on the cracked and pot-holed asphalt, tumbling wildly across the black top before coming to a rest some ten feet away.

Spike caught up with him in a blur of motion, the boy was half way to his feet when Spike grabbed the front of his gi with one hand and hauled him up. Spike buried his fist in the boy's gut twice before he set about pummeling him in the face. Spike's advantage didn't last more than a few moments before the kid grabbed the arm Spike used to hold him up and threw himself backwards. Planting his feet in Spike's middle the boy waited until his back hit the ground before he let go of Spike's arm and kicked out. The fabric of the boy's gi tore out of Spike's hand as he went hurdling almost fifteen feet straight up into the air.

Spike let out a cry when he started to fall, but cut it off when he saw that the boy had rolled to his feet, his bruised face turned upwards. His eyes, for a second, flashed red.

"Oh, sh—"

"_Shouryuu Ken_!" the boy shouted, and the next thing Spike saw was a fist coming to meet his face.

* * *

The vampire endured a full on rising punch; he stared at Ryu with pure hatred through swollen, blood-shot eyes. It… _enraged_ Ryu that the creature survived the Shouryuu Ken. The rage burned inside him, all too familiar, all too unwanted… yet irresistible. 

"I don't know what the hell you are, but I'm gonna make you and a pair pruning shears real close friends. Right after I'm done beating the snot out of you!"

The vampire would recover from his injuries soon and Ryu no longer had the physical strength to kill him with his bare hands. Ryu knew he had one option left. It was certain to destroy his opponent once and for all.

"You… are nothing! I will defeat you," Ryu said, his lips spread across his face, exposing his teeth which had become as deformed as the vampires. His eyes began burning like red-hot coals as he cupped his hands, placing the left above the right, palms inward, before pulling them against his right side.

"What the…!" the vampire said, the snarl on his face transforming to a look of surprise.

"I will defeat you," Ryu roared.

Ryu began gathering energy from around him, and from within, into the space between his palms. Thin bolts of crimson lightening danced over his body as his muscles swelled with energy. Soon the arcs of electricity grew as well, their oscillation over Ryu speeding up. A wind encircled him, tossing up loose gravel, glass and dust that layered the parking lot. The vampire's yellow eyes widened even more at the sight before they began darting desperately from side to side. Ryu sensed the creature's fear and his mad grin grew, his facial features becoming distorted, his skin darkening to an orange tint. He prepared to alter the direction of his attack should the vampire run.

"Now wait-wait a minute, mate," the vampire said thrusting his hands out in front of him.

"Hadou--" Ryu pulled his hands back farther until they were almost behind his back. A brilliant well of blood red energy formed into a ball between his cupped hands. Both the lightening and the demonic wind surrounding him merged together and swirled as one before they too joined the energy he held in his hands.

"No fair using magic, is it?" the vampire asked.

"Ken!" Ryu shouted and thrust his hands forward. It was at that moment, half way across town, Giles, with Chun-Li looking on, smashed the magical idol fueling the spell cast over the citizens of Sunnydale.

Xander Harris watched the fireball he almost launched at Spike break apart into little sparks of energy. Diffusing into the air like dying fireflies flitting through the night air. In that moment Xander only knew loss, loss so heart-rending he fell to his knees and bit into his bottom lip to hold back his sobs. He didn't register Spike walking cautiously over to him, ready to take full advantage of his dazed state. He did not notice when Buffy, the real Buffy, chased the vampire away. Nor did he hear the agonized wails coming from the vampire and the fifteen-year old boy lying on the ground behind him. Xander was aware of only one thing: he touched heaven. Only to have it ripped away from his fingertips.


End file.
